Track and Field Day

Last week, we had the opportunity to help at Track and Field Day, hosted by an elementary school where we did an afterschool program. It was a beautiful day, and the kids arrived full of energy and excitement. Our duty was to run the relay races!

We conducted a variety of relays. The first we did required the participants to race to the cones while balancing a tennis ball on a spoon, arguably an even greater challenge than balancing an egg on a spoon. Our other tennis ball relay involved students moving as fast as they could with a tennis ball in between their knees.

One of our most memorable relays was the Sponge Squeeze Dash. Each team had a large sponge and a bucket of water at the start of their lines. They soaked their sponge, and then raced to the cone to squeeze as much water as they could into a plastic bowl. The team that filled up their bowl first was the winner.

Speaking of water, drinking lots was a must for field day. We ran out of plastic cups, so I would recommend having paper cones or writing students' names with permanent marker on reusable cups. Or for an environmentally-conscious approach, encouraging kids to bring waterbottles!

Another relay--simple but good--was dribbling a soccer ball down the line, to the cone and back. Having separate colored balls for each team was helpful so that kids didn't confuse each others' soccer balls.

Don't forget to take a break every once in a while!

There were other stations at field day: parachute, water balloon toss, hula hoops, carnival games, and spin art.

When the upper grades came to field day, we brought out some new relay races. One involved racing to the cone, and then blowing up a paper bag and popping it with a loud clap.

Our last relay: build a camp fire! Teammates took turns racing to the cone to drop a log onto a pile. But don't worry- we didn't actually set the logs on fire.

Thanks to the hard-working teachers and staff at the school, field day was a success! We were happy to help give them a day of fun and exercise.

-Laura